September 24
Events * 622 - Prophet Muhammad completes his hegira from Mecca to Medina. *1664 - The Netherlands surrenders New Amsterdam to England. *1789 - The office of the Attorney General of the United States of America, and the United States Post Office Department are established. *1841 - The Sultan of Brunei cedes Sarawak to Britain. *1852 - The first airship is displayed. *1869 - "Black Friday": Gold prices plummet after Ulysses S. Grant orders the Treasury to sell large quantities of gold after Jay Gould and James Fisk plot to control the market. *1877 - Battle of Shiroyama, decisive victory of the Imperial Japanese Army over the Satsuma Rebellion *1890 - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially renounces polygamy. *1903 - Edmund Barton steps down as Prime Minister of Australia and is succeeded by Alfred Deakin. *1906 - U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaims Devils Tower the nation's first National Monument. *1935 - Earl Bascom and Weldon Bascom produce the first rodeo ever held outdoors under electric lights at Columbia *1946 - Cathay Pacific Airways is founded in Hong Kong *1947 - Majestic 12 is allegedly established by secret executive order of President Harry Truman *1948 - The Honda Motor Company is founded. *1950 - Forest fires black out the sun over portions of Canada and New England. A Blue moon (in the astronomical sense) is seen as far away as Europe. *1957 - Camp Nou, the largest stadium in Europe, is opened in Barcelona. *1957 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends 101st Airborne Division troops to Little Rock, to enforce desegregation. *1962 - United States court of appeals orders the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith. *1973 - Guinea-Bissau declares its independence from Portugal. *1988 - Summer Olympics: Ben Johnson beats Carl Lewis and Linford Christie in the 100 metres sprint in a record time of 9.79 seconds. (Johnson would later be disqualified in a high profile case of doping.) *1990 - Periodic Great White Spot observed on Saturn *1994 - National League for Democracy is formed by Aung San Suu Kyi and various others to help fight against dictatorship in Myanmar. *1996 - U.S. President Bill Clinton signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty at the United Nations. *2005 - Hurricane Rita makes landfall in the United States, devastating Beaumont and portions of southwestern Louisiana. *2007 - Iranian Presidednt Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gives a controversial speech on the campus of Columbia University. Births * 15 - Vitellius, Roman Emperor (d. 69) *1301 - Ralph Stafford, English soldier (d. 1372) *1501 - Gerolamo Cardano, Italian mathematician (d. 1576) *1513 - Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg, Queen of Sweden (d. 1535) *1534 - Guru Ram Das, fourth Sikh Guru (d. 1581) *1564 - William Adams, British navigator (d. 1620) *1583 - Albrecht von Wallenstein, Austrian general (d. 1634) *1625 - Johan de Witt, Dutch politician (d. 1672) *1705 - Leopold Josef Graf Daun, Austrian field marshal (d. 1766) *1717 - Horace Walpole, British novelist and politician (d. 1797) *1724 - Sir Arthur Guinness, Irish brewer (d. 1803) *1739 - Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin, Russian statesman (d. 1791) *1755 - John Marshall, 4th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1835) *1801 - Mikhail Vasilievich Ostrogradsky, Ukrainian scientist (d. 1862) *1802 - Adolphe d'Archaic, French paleontologist and geologist (d. 1868) *1817 - Ramon de Campoamor y Campoosorio, Spanish poet and philosopher (d. 1901) *1829 - Charles S. West, Texas jurist and politician (d. 1885) *1857 - Richard Mansfield, German-born actor (d. 1907) *1870 - Georges Claude, French chemist and inventor (d. 1960) *1871 - Lottie Dod, English athlete (d. 1960) *1878 - C. F. Ramuz, Swiss writer (d. 1947) *1884 - Hugo Schmeisser, German weapons designer (d. 1953) * 1884 - Gustave Garrigou, French cyclist (d. 1963) *1890 - A. P. Herbert, British humorist, barrister, novelist (d. 1971) * 1890 - Mike González, baseball player (d. 1977) *1892 - Adélard Godbout, premier of Québec (d. 1956) *1894 - Tommy Armour, Anglo-American golfer (d. 1968) *1895 - André Frédéric Cournand, French Nobel Laureate (d. 1988) *1896 - F. Scott Fitzgerald, American novelist (d. 1940) *1898 - Howard Walter Florey, Nobel Laureate (d. 1968) *1899 - Sir William Dobell, Australian portrait artist (d. 1970) *1900 - Ham Fisher, American cartoonist (d. 1955) *1905 - Severo Ochoa, Nobel Laureate (d. 1993) *1909 - Gerard Ciołek, Polish architect (d. 1966) *1910 - Jean Servais, Belgian actor (d. 1976) *1911 - Konstantin Chernenko, Soviet premier (d. 1985) *1912 - Don Porter, American actor (d. 1997) *1914 - Sir John Kerr, 18th Governor-General of Australia (d. 1991) *1918 - Audra Lindley, American actress (d. 1997) *1919 - Dayton Allen, American actor and comedian (d. 2004) *1921 - Jim McKay, American sports commentator *1922 - Theresa Merritt, American actress (d. 1998) * 1922 - Cornell MacNeil, American baritone *1923 - Louis Edmonds, American actor (d. 2001) * 1923 - Fats Navarro, American jazz trumpet player (d. 1950) *1924 - Nina Bocharova, Soviet gymnast * 1924 - Sheila MacRae, singer & actress *1925 - Autar Singh Paintal, Indian medical scientist (d. 2004) *1927 - Alfredo Kraus, Spanish tenor (d. 1999) *1929 - Edward M. Lawson, Canadian politician *1930 - John W. Young, American astronaut * 1930 - Angelo Muscat, Maltese actor (d. 1977) * 1930 - Józef Krupiński, Polish poet (d. 1998) *1931 - Anthony Newley, British actor and singer (d. 1999) * 1931 - Mike Parkes, British Formula One driver (d. 1977) *1932 - Dominique Michel, French Canadian comedian *1934 - Manfred Wörner, German politician and diplomat (d. 1994) * 1934 - Tommy Anderson, Scottish footballer * 1934 - John Brunner, British autor (d. 1995) *1935 - Sean McCann, Canadian actor *1936 - Jim Henson, American puppeteer (d. 1990) *1940 - Yves Navarre, French writer (d. 1994) *1941 - Linda McCartney, American singer (d. 1998) * 1941 - John Mackey, National Football League player *1942 - Ilkka "Danny" Lipsanen, Finnish singer * 1942 - Gerry Marsden, English singer (Gerry and the Pacemakers) *1944 - Diana Körner, German actress *1945 - Lou Dobbs, American journalist *1946 - "Mean" Joe Greene, American football player * 1946 - Lars Emil Johansen, Prime Minister of Greenland *1947 - Erik Hivju, Norwegian actor *1948 - Gordon Clapp, American actor * 1948 - Phil Hartman, Canadian actor (d. 1998) * 1948 - Heinz Chur, German composer *1950 - Alan Colmes, American talk show host * 1950 - Kristina Wayborn, Swedish actress *1952 - Mark Sandman, American musician (d. 1999) *1955 - Riccardo Illy, Italian politician *1956 - Hubie Brooks, Baseball player *1958 - Kevin Sorbo, American actor *1959 - Steve Whitmire, American voice actor *1961 - Allen Bestwick, Nascar broadcaster * 1961 - John Logan, American screenwriter *1962 - Jack Dee, British comedian * 1962 - Mike Phelan, English former footballer * 1962 - Nia Vardalos, Canadian actress *1964 - Rafael Palmeiro, Cuban-born baseball player *1965 - Sean McNabb, American bassist (Quiet Riot, Great White, Rough Cutt, House of Lords) *1966 - Michael J. Varhola, American author * 1966 - Bernard Gilkey, Baseball player * 1966 - Stacy Galina, American actress *1969 - Shawn "Clown" Crahan, American musician (Slipknot) * 1969 - Donald DeGrate, American music producer * 1969 - Megan Ward, American actress * 1969 - Goya Toledo, Spanish actress and model *1971 - Kevin Millar, American baseball player * 1971 - Peter Salisbury, English drummer (The Verve) *1973 - Eddie George, American football player *1974 - John McDonald, American baseball player *1976 - Stephanie McMahon-Levesque, American professional wrestler * 1976 - Carlos Almeida, Angolan basketball player *1977 - Frank Fahrenhorst, German footballer *1978 - Wietse van Alten, Dutch archer * 1978 - Tarek Saab, American TV show contestant *1979 - Jose Paulo Hardy, Web Designer * 1979 - Katja Kassin, German pornographic actress * 1979 - Fabio Aurelio, Brazilian footballer * 1978 - Ross Matthews, American television personality and comedian *1980 - John Arne Riise, Norwegian footballer * 1980 - Sabrine Maui, Filipino pornstar * 1980 - Petri Pasanen, Finnish footballer * 1980 - Dean Canto, Australian racing driver * 1980 - Brian Lemon, Irish UFC Fighter * 1980 - Daniele Bennati, Italian professional road racing cyclist *1981 - Ryan Briscoe, Australian racing driver *1982 - Morgan Hamm, American gymnast * 1982 - Paul Hamm, American gymnast * 1982 - Jeff Karstens, American baseball player *1983 - Randy Foye, American basketball player *1984 - Szilvia Molnar, Swedish writer *1986 - Leah Dizon, model, singer and Japanese television *1987 - Matthew Connolly, English footballer * 1987 - Spencer Treat Clark, American actor *1988 - Kyle Sullivan, American actor * 1988 - Lisa Wang, American gymnast *1995 - Andy Shemelzman, American scholar Deaths * 366 - Pope Liberius * 768 - Pippin the Short, King of the Franks (b. 714) *1054 - Hermannus Contractus, scholar (b. 1013) *1118 - Robert of Knaresborough, hermit (b. 1160) *1120 - Welf II (b. 1072) *1143 - Agnes of Germany, daughter of Henry IV (b. 1072) * 1143 - Pope Innocent II *1180 - Manuel I Comnenus, Greek Byzantine Emperor (b. 1118) *1213 - Gertrude of Merania, wife of Andrew II of Hungary (murdered) (b. 1185) *1275 - Humphrey de Bohun, Constable of England (b. 1208) *1435 - Isabeau of Bavaria, wife of Charles VI of France (bc. 1370) *1494 - Poliziano, Italian humanist (b. 1454) *1541 - Paracelsus, Swiss alchemist (b. 1493) *1545 - Albert of Mainz, archbishop and elector of Mainz (b. 1490) *1605 - Manuel Mendes, Portuguese composer (bc. 1547) *1621 - Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, Polish military commander (b. 1560) *1646 - Duarte Lobo, Portuguese composer (bc. 1565) *1707 - Vicenzo da Filicaja, Italian poet (b. 1642) *1732 - Emperor Reigen of Japan (b. 1654) *1742 - Johann Matthias Hase, German scientist (b. 1684) *1802 - Alexander Radishchev, Russian writer (b. 1749) *1834 - Pedro I of Brazil, Emperor of Brazil (b. 1798) *1896 - Louis De Geer, 1st Swedish Prime Minister (b. 1818) *1904 - Niels Ryberg Finsen, Danish physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1860) *1930 - William A. MacCorkle, Governor of West Virginia (b. 1857) *1933 - Mike Donlin, baseball player (b. 1878) * 1933 - Alice Muriel Williamson, British novelist (b. 1869) *1938 - Lev Schnirelmann, Russian mathematician (b. 1900) *1939 - Carl Laemmle, German film producer (b. 1867) *1945 - Hans Geiger, German physicist (b. 1882) *1948 - Warren William, American actor (b. 1894) *1954 - Edward Pilgrim, British suicide hastened by bureaucracy (b. 1904) *1962 - Charles Reisner, American silent actor and film director (b. 1887) *1975 - Earle Cabell, Texas politician (b. 1906) *1981 - Patsy Kelly, American actress (b. 1910) *1982 - Sarah Churchill, British actress (b. 1914) *1984 - Neil Hamilton, American actor (b. 1899) *1991 - Theodore Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, American children's writer (b. 1904) * 1991 - Peter Bellamy, folk singer (b. 1944) *1993 - Bruno Pontecorvo, Italian physicist (b. 1913) * 1993 - Ian Stuart Donaldson, British musician (b. 1957) *2002 - Youssouf Togoïmi, Chadian rebel (b. 1953) * 2002 - Mike Webster, National Football League player (b. 1952) *2003 - Rosalie Allen, American singer and disc jockey (b. 1924) * 2003 - Lyle Bettger, American actor (b. 1915) *2004 - Françoise Sagan, French writer (b. 1935) *2005 - Tommy Bond, American actor (b. 1926) Holidays and observances *Late Roman Empire - start of the indiction year (at least since the time of Bede). *In ancient Latvia, the third day of Mikeli, and the only day of the year during which men proposed to their prospective wives. *Catholic Calendar: Our Lady of Mercy and Our Lady of Walsingham. *Also see September 24. *Guinea-Bissau - Independence Day (declared, from Portugal, 1973). *New Caledonia - Territorial Day. *England - Our Lady of Walsingham. *South Africa - Heritage Day. *Barcelona, Spain - La Mercè the festival for Barcelona's patron saint. A lot of art and musical activities. *Trinidad and Tobago - Republic Day (1976). *French Republican Calendar - Châtaigne (Chestnut) Day, third day in the Month of Vendémiaire. *Kings Day - Celebrating Birthday of Rajadhiraja,Sriraj. External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada ---- Category:September